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In the house today:
HB 0008
– Major maintenance multiplier. This bill passed second reading
HB 0220
– National Retail Fairness Act. This bill passed third reading and will be headed to the senate.
In House Education Committee Today
HB 0203
– Community colleges- safety and security. This bill passed out of committee and will be referred to the House Appropriations Committee.
HJ 0005
– State lands mineral royalties-constitutional amendment. This bill failed to move out of committee with a 4 – 4 vote.
HB 0199
– Virtual education agreements. This bill passed out to committee.
In the senate today
No education bills were discussed on the floor of the senate. However, an attempt was made to reconsider
SF 0075
Concealed carry of weapons. If approved, this guns in schools bill would have likely been assigned to the Agriculture, Public and State Lands, and Water Resources Committee, and would have then likely passed to the floor of the senate.
The motion to reconsider did not pass, 8-20-2.
We are still watching HB 183, with the same title, which is awaiting introduction in the house. Stay tuned to watch for notices about this bill.
Senate Education Committee:
SF 0120
– Student expulsion hearing requirements.This bill passed out of committee 5-0.
SF 0123
– School district compliance-public records and meetings. This bill died in committee and no member of the committee moved the bill.
SF 0111
– Community colleges-bachelor of applied science programs. This bill passed out of committee 4-0.
Joint Appropriations Committee:
In the supplemental budget request, the JAC version of the budget bill will reflect an increase of $213 million. This includes $18 million for an external cost adjustment for schools. While this is a step in the right direction, the roughly 1.5% adjustment is less than half of the predicted statewide yearly inflation rate, and falls .5% short of the cuts that the legislature implemented in 2018. The budget bill will hit the floor of both chambers on Monday, January 28, and WEA will be monitoring the bills and providing daily updates on any amendments impacting education.
